Big Three Wives
by Pen-Always-In-Hand
Summary: Persephone and Nico have a heated argument; Amphritite thinks about her favorite stepson Percy; Hera/Juno ponders on her different views towards her stepchildren.
1. Persephone

"You are nothing but a bastard!" Persephone screeched at Nico, her face red from screaming. Her stepson was at the edge of her garden, fists clenched and eyes-so like his father's, _her husband_-burning with anger. "A blight! A stain that should have never been!"

"I am a son of Hades," Nico growled. One hand hovered near his sword, as if he intended to strike the goddess down with it. Ah, but he had another weapon-words, that cut the heart better than a blade: "And you know what else I am? _I am the son of the woman he loved_."

The wife of Hades howled in rage and threw a potted plant at him. The demigod dodged just in time, and the pot broke on the wall behind him. Persephone's heart was racing, and breaking, at the same time. How dare he bring _her_ up? How dare he imply her husband didn't love her? Of course Hades loved her! She was his _wife_. Surely, she was the most loved, out of the Big Three wives, she _knew_ she was. Hera was vindictive, and not the loving wife and mother she pretended to be. And Amphritite, well, she was cold to everyone, even her own son-and at least they had children! Neither of those two would ever _dream_ of letting their husbands' bastards into their home, especially not when they were childless themselves, and that showed how much the spring goddess **cared**, how much she **loved** Hades, to put up with his son.

But sometimes Persephone stopped thinking of the boy as another demigod, as Hades' son, and started thinking of him as _that woman's _**bastard.**

"You think your mother was so special!" Persephone screamed at the boy, who was as rooted to the spot as her plants were. "Do you know how many of your brothers died in that stupid war? Caused by your _other_ siblings? Do you know who many other women thought they could take my place as Hades' wife and queen? _That woman _was no different. She was just a toy! Something for my lord to play with! You and your sister were just collateral damage!"

Nico stared her down, and oh, how she hated his eyes. They were his father's eyes, black and souless, eyes that bore into your heart, just like his father (his father her husband). And Persephone knew Hades liked looking at Nico and seeing himself in the boy, a living testimony to his parentage, so all who saw him would know he was off-limit's: his father's precious hero. But what could Persephone boast of in the boy, this boy who was not hers? She couldn't pretend, looking at him and knowing he was a demigod, a mortal child-because if she and Hades had a child, it would be a _god, _immortal and hers forever, but Nico was a demigod, mortal in the adjective sense of the word, and not hers. He could never be hers.

Not that she wanted him to be her son. Of course not. He was a prideful, ungrateful, insolent little boy who cared not a lick for her. Why should she love him? She didn't, obviously. Would his indifference to her hurt so much if she did? Would she berate him so much for his mistakes? She hated Nico.

_(But to hate, one must also love)_

_(To be hurt, one must first care)_

"And how long has it been since my father last played with you, Persephone?"

That was the final straw. With a cry like a banshee, the goddess flung herself at the child, who stepped back in total shock. He wasn't ready for this attack, and so his stepmother was able to wrap her delicate, beautiful, strong hands around his skinny throat. Nico tried to claw at her hands with his fingers, but they turned into leaves.

"I will show you, ghost king!" she raged. "I will show you! You are an insignificant little weed! Do you remember? When I turned your into a dandelion-our _family spat?_ Good news, you can rejoin my garden!" Persephone threw the boy down, and that's when he finished his metamorphisis, becoming, once again, a dandelion. Persephone screamed at the plant, the boy, the bastard weed,

"I am above you! I am the mistress, I am a _goddess. _How dare you put yourself above me? How dare you make me into nothing? I am _everything_ to him! I am his beloved wife, and you are an accident! Do you think he loves you? Do you think he cares for you? No! I hold his heart in my hands, and I will give you no piece of it!"

Nico-the-dandelion couldn't respond, of course, but Persephone felt his emotions seeping into the soil, poisoning it with rage and indignation. The goddess of flowers gritted her teeth. Plants do not feel. Plants do not think. They live, but are empty things that produce oxygen and make life pretty. This one should be no different.

"While you have obviosuly given him ears, it would be nice if my son had arms and legs, and I guess a head and body wouldn't hurt," a dry voice said from behind her. Persephone whirled around to see Hades, Lord of the Dead, her husband and Nico's father. She flushed bright red, and started stammering until Hades cut her off, looking annoyed.

"Do it now, Persephone." Persephone narrowed her eyes and clenched her fists, but with a nod of her head, Nico-the-dandelion became Nico-the-demigod again. He shook himself off and spat out a bunch of dandelion seeds. As he glared at his stepmother, and she glared back, Hades sighed and rubbed his aching temples. He had heard their argument from his throne room, and had decided it was time to intervene before his wife made Nico a permanent guest in their home. He said,

"Persephone, you are my wife. Nico, you are my son. You both...live here (for lack of a better word), and unless you two do something, you are going to kill each other" (no one mentioned how that was impossible for Persephone and very likely for Nico) "and that cannot happen. Therefore, you must figure some system out. There must be _something_ you agree on, something you can count on while in each other's company."

Boy and goddess looked at each other, and each could read what was in the other's eyes:

_I am not nothing._

* * *

><p><strong>A.N-Yay, another PJO fic. This is the first time I've done something with Nico though. I've been thinking about him a lot, and have read some <em>great <em>works about him (mainly crossovers w/Kane Chronicles. The best are by Asilda, where Nico becomes the host of Anubis.) I've also been thinking about Persephone, and her relationship with her stepson. Surely she and Nico have clashed more than the one time that left Nico with roots.**

**I'm wondering if I should add on to this, with Hera/Juno and Amphritite. Part of the inspiration came from the thinking how all demigods, in the original meaning of the word, are bastards (children born out of wedlock). I figured Persephone would totally use that in her tirade.**


	2. Amphritite

It wasn't that she hated her stepchildren. Of course not. It wasn't their fault their father had cheated on her with their mothers. Amprhitite knew better than to blame the child for the parents' actions. Nor did she bare any ill will to her husband's ex-lovers, the nymphs and goddesses that had shared his bed before he had started courting her (she and Demeter were very good friends, and Amprhitite enjoyed hearing about tales of Pershephone and Arion's childhood). Where was the sense in that? The Queen of the Sea had always prided herself in not being like her Sister-Queens, Hera and Persephone, who took their anger out on innocents. _She _wouldn't have hounded Heracles so, or even the half-blood's mother, Alcemene for she had been tricked by Zeus. And that poor son of Hades - well, being turned into a plant repeatedly _must _have _some _side-effects.

No, Amprhitite's anger was directed at the mothers. And Poseidon, of course but she could never stay mad at him for very long. It was just...well, she completely understood why the little whores fell for him, though the ones who knew their mythology (and the latest lover did) ought to know about her existance. She wondered what would happen if she called the newest woman what she was - a slut, a home-wrecking whore.

She could imagine what the woman's son - her youngest stepson, the first demigod for almost seventy years - would do: stand up for his mother, not tolerate the insults. Part of Amphritite was impressed that he would do that, because it meant he loved his mortal parent, something few modern demigods did anymore. The boy's cousin, the son of Hades, would do the same, for Persephone (who regularly reminded her stepson about his bastard status) would indignantly relate how his hand always strayed to his sowrd, or form a raised fist, as if to strike her. Hera's stepdaughter, though, didn't care about about her mother and would probably agree with the Queen of Olympus.

But Percy...the Nereid had to admit, demigods were her favorite type of stepchild, because, whether obviously or subtlely, they always, _always _looked like their father. And gods did she love the way her husband looked. And demigods were alway so..._human_ looking, not like those one-eyed monsters, the cyclopses she had to see every day.

But anyway, Amphritite didn't hate her husband's children, least of all Percy, that handsome, brave young man. Yes, he trusted too much; yes, he was impertinent; and yes, he was arrogant, but she couldn't help but admire the boy. The nymph-goddess was sure he would understand her pain and her thoughts of his mother, but would still defend this...Sally, was it? Triton would never do the same for _her._

So no, she didn't hate, or loath, or resent, or begrudge the half-blood's existance. So why had she been so cold at their first meeting? Brushing him off like a fly? It wasn't reputation, and it wasn't the war. Why?

Because she was afraid that, if she showed him any warmth, the fire in her heart would grow out of her control.


	3. Hera and Juno

Greek, Roman.

Hera, Juno.

Thalia, Jason.

In the scheme of things, they were all really the same thing. She was Greek Hera and Roman Juno, and Thalia and Jason were both her stepchildren, both her husband's bastards, born from the _exact same **whore**. _But, really, they were different. Hera cared nothing for Juno, and vice versa, for what business had a Greek in Roman affairs? And _Thalia_, oh, how Hera hated Thalia. She resented her existance, this living proof of her not-so-perfect marriage. But Hera could do absolutely nothing to her, for she was Artemis' favorite now, the Lieutenant of her Hunt (_and Juno didn't care_).

But, but, but Juno _loved_ Jason. He was her _hero_, he was _her_ link to the world - not Jupiter's, not Zeus'. Hers. Juno's. Hera's. She had looked after him since his mother abandoned him at the Wolf House at the age of two. She had marveled at his strength, comparing him to heroes of old. She boasted to Proserpina* and Salacia* of his prowess, had given him her blessing, given him his _name_, called for her beloved one back in the ancient days of myth.

It was hard to believe, that she could care for children of the same mother, same father, so differently. But it was through Zeus' and Jupiter's folly that she realized the truth - the camps, the children, could not be seperated. Not now. They must work together. The gods should not seal themselves away and hope the threat would go away.

Why couldn't anyone else see that?

_(except for Aphrodite and Hephaestus and Artemis)_

The gods, Greek and Roman, needed their heroes, their children, Roman and Greek. The past must be remembered, but the present must take precedence before anything else. The new threat was on the rise _(Gaia) _and she would destroy everything in her path _(Terra)._

Juno was Jason's patron, as Hera had been for the other Jason so long ago. The Queen of the gods did not care for mortal affairs, and she had only helped heroes twice before, back in ancient Greece and modern America _(for Hera had loved Jason Grecius*, because he was Greek and mortal and a hero despite his human origins, and Juno loved Jason Grace because he was Roman and dedicated to her and the only demigod who praised her above all). _She did not love Thalia, she could never love Thalia, but like her brother the demigoddess had two protectors, was the link to the modern, mortal world for two gods (Zeus and Artemis), and Jason was the link for (Jupiter and Juno). Juno did appreciate Thalia's love for their Jason, took relish in the girl's angry dismissal of Ms. Grace, understood her anxiety over the gods' forced silence.

Hera would do nothing, for the Greeks viewed her as only vengeful, speaking up only to argue with Zeus or cast curses on his children, but the Romans _loved_ her, honored her, cried to her for help and so for their sake Juno could not stay silent. In either form, she was the patron of children and family, and so she must help her family's children. Her husband's children.

Thalia, Jason.

Hera, Juno.

Greek, Roman.

* * *

><p><strong>A.N-And so ends my three-shot on the Big Three Wives. This was really fun to write, putting my own spin on what these goddesses think. I had to improvise the most with Amphritite, since you see the least of her and can't get anything out of her. I think I portrayed her well enough though, in what I think of her and Triton and her thoughts on Percy.<strong>

**Persephone was probably the easiest to write, since out of the three you see the most interaction between her and her stepson. Her chapter seemed longest, somehow, probably because their was actual talking in that one. At first I thought of putting Jason in this chapter, since there is some interaction between him and his stepmother, but then again, Jason is busy helping with the _Argo II_ and regaining his memory. Since Hera/Juno talks about both Thalia and Jason in this chapter, I though maybe I should have put Hazel in with Nico, but I don't think Persephone/Proserpina knows about her living stepdaughter. Just a feeling I have.**

**I hope you guys have enjoyed this. I really tried to make the chapters, the goddesses, speak. I wanted the writing to be flowing but still sporatic; I wanted you guys to really _see_ inside their heads as I have. I hope I succeeded.**

**_Proserpina_-Persephone's Roman counterpart, wife of Pluto and Hazel's stepmother. I figured I should say 'Proserpina' instead of 'Persephone' since it is Juno who's doing the boasting, not Hera.  
><em>Salacia<em>-Amprhitite's Roman counterpart, wife of Neptune.  
><em>Grecius<em>-'the Greek', which could mean literally a Greek person, a stranger, or an enemy. I used this because Hera's Jason has no last name, and technically it means 'Jason the Greek.' Also, I thought the play on sounds between 'grecius' and 'Grace' were interesting.**


End file.
